Letters

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We must put an end to the human and financial costs of PFI projects It is time nursing woke up to the threat posed by the Private Finance Initiative and the damaging effects of using private capital to fund major NHS projects. The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is a crucial issue for nurses, partly because of its potential effects on their employment, the exercise of their skills, their career progression, pay and morale, and also because of its effect on patient care. We need look no further than what is happening at Barts Health NHS Trust, the UK’s most expensive NHS PFI project. While the original capital cost was £1.1 billion, rebuilding work will have cost £7.1 billion by the time repayments have ended in 2048-49. Significantly, the costs of servicing PFI debt have to be met from a trust’s operating budget – the budget that normally pays for patient care, staff and supplies. So while PFI makes huge profits for investors, it is one of the main reasons for staff lay-offs, reductions in hospital beds and hospital closures. Nurses should be adding their voices to the growing demand that the government must cancel, or substantially renegotiate, PFI projects. Jan Savage, by email

AS A FORMER ADDICT, I AM TREATED LIKE A PARIAH BY MY COLLEAGUES It is a constant source of amazement to me how we, as nurses, are so caring, supportive and nurturing to all around us, yet not to each other. In 2006 I experienced some devastating personal problems – divorce, loss of family, children – and I coped in a unhealthy way. I drank and took drugs to ease the pain. But after entering a recovery programme, I now have my nursing licence back (with terms, conditions and limitations). It is fantastic and I am

grateful. Because of what I have been through I know I am a kinder and wiser nurse and human being. What upsets me is the stigma now attached to me. I am applying for nursing positions and feel I am treated like a pariah. As soon as the employer hears I have conditions (which will expire) on my licence I am quickly shown the door. I know I am not alone in this struggle. Addiction is a hidden problem in nursing. I am not a ‘bad’ person. I was a sick person with a disease and am now fully recovered. I love my profession but feel shunned by my colleagues. It is sad that we cannot extend the same compassion to our own that we do to others. Name and address supplied

FLEXIBLE EDUCATION PROGRAMMES WILL SECURE PROFESSION’S FUTURE As someone who brought in Project 2000 and then went on to be RCN director of education for six years, I was a keen advocate for one level of

registered nurse. But in response to Ursula Arnold’s call for the return of enrolled nurses (Letters December 11), I agree it is time we revisited the issue. When the second tier of nursing was phased out opponents of the change said employers would abuse the new system and use fewer ‘expensive’ registered nurses. Twenty years on, it is clear those fears were justified. The smart thing for leaders in the profession to do now is to come up with a system that meets the needs of patients, employers and nurses. Have the people who structure education programmes lost sight of flexible learning? It is possible to aim for an all-graduate profession with a variety of routes to get there. What is needed is more innovative and flexible education programmes. The RCN’s Howard Catton is right to say there is no appetite in the UK for the reintroduction of second level nurses. But what has become clear is that there is a need. Tom Bolger, London

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We must put an end to the human and financial costs of PFI projects.

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